House of Ariadne

Comments

• Discipline, Principles and Rules?
  Maybe my perspective is tainted by 10 years of getting start-up companies funded, but the recent ménage à trois between the Bank of England, FSA and the Chancellor of the Exchequer has left me reflecting on the various elements of power inside of a freshly minted company.
  
  Inside of any private company, there are three layers to power. First of all, there is what the founder/entrepreneur has, and his/her decisions in the setting up of the venture will be key to its success from a corporate structure perspective. His/her role as a strong CEO is vital to the smooth functioning of the fast train on which any start-up is. If people don't follow the CEO, then chaos reigns. If the Board later tries to rip out the founder, and insert new [frequently big company] CEO, then a very dangerous balance can slip out of balance. We've all seen this train crash somewhere before. Read More

• Why Some Companies Make It?
  Timing is everything, and any entrepreneur knows that.
  
  When Skype leapt onto the scene in early 2004, it wasn’t that they created VOIP or even brought it to market first commercially. Net2Phone and others had been out there for a while although quality had not been superb. What Skype had going for them was higher broadband penetration in the mass market, and a P2P architecture which the market was ready for early in the 21st century. The fact that they had reputations as more than innovators - as mavericks - nearly pirates - with Kazaa helped to build their mystique, and crucially, that sense of inevitability that they would succeed. Read More

• Travelogue - October 2007
  You find your allies and confidants in odd places - close to home [Cheltenham, Loughborough] and far away [Budapest, Oslo and Inverness].
  
  Having been asked to speak at Dean Close - http://www.deanclose.co.uk/ in Cheltenham to the senior school, I thought about myself at that age [17], full of hope with no experience of the world. Real Life, Paul Flanagan's new company [Paul has been our Executive in Residence at Ariadne for 4 years covering the gaming sector] is a virtual world for 17 year olds enabling them to test drive different careers. I found all of my dinner companions obsessed with what they were going to do with their lives, and how this internship had turned out differently than they had thought, or whether they could be a trader, or an entrepreneur, or what was advertising all about, and whether the professions like doctors and lawyers would be the route. Real Life is going to be huge when it taps into this deep emotional reservoir - launching in early 2008. For those of you who still don't know what I'm talking about that, think of online business simulation games - like Marktstradt - which we played at INSEAD - teaching you how to do Marketing. If you are a corporate and would like to sponsor a part of Real Life, contact Paul on reallife@ariadnecapital.com
  
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Ariadne in the News

• 18 Doughty Street
  18 Doughty Street - 13th September Vox Politix - watch it here

• Radio 4 - Hecklers
  BBC Radio 4’s debating show Hecklers. 16th August 2007. "The British government should stop giving tax breaks to foreign multi-millionaires"

Ariadne Events

• November - Harvard Business Review Dinner
  Ariadne Capital hosts the Harvard Business Review Dinner in London - 1st November - http://www.hbrlondon.org
  
  Tom Stewart, the Editor of Harvard Business Review, and Julie Meyer, CEO of Ariadne Capital have had a dialogue over the past 5 years since he became Editor. HBR generates significant intellectual capital, and the magazine is launching a series of site-specific dialogues with leaders in key regions and communities around the world, London is their first stop.
  
  Ariadne Capital are hosting a dinner for Tom and 30 guests where Tom will speak on Key Tests of Leadership.
  
  Some of the ideas generated from this dinner, and the dialogues from meetings Tom and his team will be having in London will contribute to HBR’s mission of improving the practice of management and its impact in a changing world.

• 15 January, 2008 - Ariadne Capital’s Investor Forum
  Ariadne will be hosting an Investor Forum on the 15th of January 2008 in London, UK in order to showcase its portfolio companies, to engineer connections for them with target partners, investors, acquirors and talent, and to drive the dialogue on the way industries of tomorrow will be shaped, particularly the Advertising and Search, Digital Music and Content, Life Services [e-Health and Consumer Financial Services] and Communications Technologies and Applications.
  
  Past Investor Forums:
  Ariadne held its 1st Investor Forum at the Institute of Directors on the 28th of June. The event was well-attended by investors, corporates, and entrepreneurs; more than 250 people attended. Video clips of the speakers may be seen on the Ariadne Capital website at: http://www.ariadnecapital.com/journal/v6e3/ click on the desired speaker’s name to see their video.
  
  Click here for Investor Forum information